Cooking classic recipes with low-temperature sous vide adds a contemporary flair while keeping the dish's old-school integrity intact. The working-from-home era is a pretty nifty time for the uninitiated or out of practice to give sous vide a try. Whether you're looking to put your device to use, or considering adding one to your kitchen, we created this recipe for a Tuscan classic, chicken liver pâté, so you can put your sous vide machine to use. If you want to enjoy it as the Tuscans do, slather the pâté on top of crostini.
Tuscan-Style Chicken Liver Pâté
Serves 4
Skill Level: Easy
Time: 45 minutes + 8 hours cooking at 85 °C or 24 hours at 70 °C plus 4 hours resting time
Ingredients:
12 oz. cleaned chicken livers
2 Tbsp. butter
1 carrot
1 celery stalk
1 onion - bay leaf
1 untreated orange
Tuscan bread or a suitable substitute
brandy - red currants
caster sugar
sage - rosemary
extra virgin olive oil
icing sugar - salt
Method:
Chop celery, carrots and onion, and fry for 2-3 minutes with a little oil. Add the livers, nuance with a glass of brandy and cook for 8 minutes.
Allow to cool, add sage, rosemary, and bay leaf and place the mixture with its liquid in a vacuum cooking bag.
Peel the orange with a potato peeler and thinly slice the peel.
Place the peels in a saucepan with half a glass of water and 3 Tbsp. caster sugar. Bring to a boil, then discard the liquid.
Put the peels in a bag and add 1 Tbsp. powdered sugar.
Allow to cool, then seal.
Bake the livers and rinds in the sous vide machine at 158 °F for 24 hours.
Open the bag, remove the herbs and strain the livers from the cooking liquid.
Blend the livers in a blender and add the butter and 2-3 Tbsp. cooking liquid to obtain a creamy mixture. Add salt to taste.
Chill in the refrigerator for 4 hours.
Serve the pâté with grilled bread, garnishing with orange peel or currant berries.
Recipe Sara Tieni
Photography Riccardo Lettieri
Styling Beatrice Prada